Maya Rigler is a fighter.
The 10 year-old from Philadelphia has been a cancer survivor since the age of two, when she was first diagnosed with kidney cancer. Last month, Rigler’s family recieved a terrible blow. Maya’s cancer was back and it was in her pancreas. The pre-teen was now facing another long, grueling fight, filled with hospital visits and chemotherapy treatments. Yet, the thing she was most concerned about wasn’t herself, but her lemonade stand.
Each June, Rigler and her family operate a lemonade stand in support of the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a charity started by another little girl battling an awful disease. Alexandra Scott lost her own fight with cancer at age 8, but not before creating a foundation which raises funds for pediatric cancer research and support.
Inspired by Scott’s own initiative, which raised over $1 million, Rigler took up the torch, heading up her own stand in Scott’s name, with funds going to kids suffering just like she was. But this year, it’s Maya who needs help.
“It was really weird at first,” Maya told Yahoo! Parenting of her second bout with cancer. “It’s still strange and scary a bit.”
Luckily for Rigler, family and friends were generous with their donations, love and support, but the little girl was still more interested in giving back than in feeling sorry for herself.
“I felt happy but I didn’t need people buying me a million presents. I started to feel bad because I don’t need all this,” she said.
Read More: Encouraging Bible Verses for Cancer Patients
Instead, Rigler asked that anyone wanting to give gifts or money donate it to the virtual Alex’s Lemonade Stand her family had set up after it became clear Rigler wouldn’t be able to man her own stand during her treatments. After just six days, the virtual stand has raised more than $34,000.
“It’s overwhelming,” said Rigler. “But it feels so nice to know we’re helping other kids.”
She’s not done yet. Rigler has upped her goal to $50,000.
“Every time we give Maya a number and it goes up even just one dollar, you should see her smile. It fills the room,” Maya’s dad Peter told Yahoo! Parenting. As for Rigler herself, the little girl is just happy she can bring a bit of hope to those who need it.
“A lot of people are, like, struggling and not doing as well as me and I think, ‘They’re not getting presents and all the support and as much as I have,’” Maya said. “I think that all this love should be given to helping other people too.”
